


An Archipelago, A Satellite, A Green Star

by amitee (orphan_account)



Category: Earth 2
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-29
Updated: 2009-12-29
Packaged: 2017-10-05 11:02:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/41082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/amitee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Written for the ddficathon. Recipient: aliaspiral, who asked for John, True, and more about Ellie.</p><p>A/N: I hope this works. (It's my first E2 fic.) There's slight Devon/Danziger at the end, since that was kind of this ficathon's focus. *g* Title is from a Tragically Hip song.</p></blockquote>





	An Archipelago, A Satellite, A Green Star

Sometimes, John Danziger would dream the smell of fresh air. Or at least what he thinks fresh air would smell like; sweet and crisp at the same time, without the faint metallic tang that the recycled air had. The same recycled air he's breathed his entire life, that he's never paid much attention to outside of the dreams. Just like he's never wondered, as he hung her upside down by her ankles while she shrieked and giggled, if True would ever get to stand on actual ground, get to smell fresh air, get to see all the things that grew in the earth.

Ellie had told him once that when she was younger, she'd worked on an Earthside crew. That the planet hadn't been the dark and terrible place the administration made it out to be, but that it wasn't made for living any more. "After you're used to the air up here," she'd said, "down there the air is so heavy in your lungs it nearly hurts to breathe. The wind blows, but the wind is heavy, too."

She had a way with words that he misses fiercely at times. Sometimes, when True would fuss as a baby, he'd lay awake at night and try to imagine the words she would have chosen to tell him she was pregnant. He's never come up with anything that even sounded like Ellie.

All he wants out of life is for True to be free from his debt. There's a lot of other things he would have liked, but he's nothing if not realistic, the cat notwithstanding. So he takes the job that Devon Adair offers him, on the condition that he can bring True, and plans on doing just that. A job.

In the end, none of it is what he expected.

*

He and True weren't even supposed to get off the ship. A nice clean landing, deposit the new colonists and turn around go to back to what they knew - ships and space stations and things that weren't trees. The people they had known would be dead and gone, but the only person John wants to hold on to anymore is True.

The air is sharp on his face when they stumble from the evacuation pod.

It's only later that he wonders if his dreams of Ellie are influenced by the planet, if it had somehow seen all the things he'd only ever told a handful of people. Things he'd nearly forgotten, like the exact color of her eyes and the smell of her hair. The being-ness of the planet and the whole dream plane thing makes him a little nervous at times.

"Am I the only one who wonders if the planet can read our thoughts?" he asks Walman one night, their turn for guard duty. It's chilly and quiet, and they've built a fire but it isn't big enough to do more than keep their feet warm.

"Probably," Walman replies, but John sees a frown mar his face and knows he isn't the only one thinking about it anymore. He makes the mental note to ask Devon, but it's weeks before he even worries about it again.

*

He doesn't really fall in love with Devon until New Pacifica, and even then, he asks True what she thinks. She looks at him crossly. "Mom's not coming back, right?" she asks, even though he knows she understands about what happened to Ellie, and he knows she's just making a point.

"Right..."

"Then if you like Devon, you should tell her." True says it like it's the simplest thing in the world, and John grins at her.

"You don't mind staying here?"

True looks up at the sky. "I think I like it here, Dad."

That settles that, and when he finds Devon later, she's standing next to the hospital ship and shielding her eyes from the sun. The wind is whipping her hair around her face, her jacket is tied around her waist, and she looks more relaxed than he's ever seen her before. "Hey, Danziger," she says with a smile.

"Hey, Adair. You standing here making sure the ship doesn't blow away too soon?"

"Something like that," she chuckles. "You and True all packed to go?"

John shakes his head, leans against the support leg of the ship. "It's not so bad here," he says with a shrug. "I think we're going to stay."

"I'm glad." Devon walks toward him. He reaches out to calm her hair and she smiles again, wider and brighter than any smile he remembers her giving before. "I was hoping you would," she says. The warm sun slants across their faces. The air smells just like he'd dreamed.

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the ddficathon. Recipient: aliaspiral, who asked for John, True, and more about Ellie.
> 
> A/N: I hope this works. (It's my first E2 fic.) There's slight Devon/Danziger at the end, since that was kind of this ficathon's focus. *g* Title is from a Tragically Hip song.


End file.
